Very likely, I will sound foolish here, but some of these things I will mention HAVE saved my sorry astilbe.

Get UP. shower. Enjoy the feeling of the water cascading over your body, smell that lovely body wash or soap..inhale it. Dry your precious body like you'd dry your new little baby. Get dressed.

Turn around, wipe off the mirror if it is steamed up. Put on your nicest make up. Brush/arrange your hair.

SMILE the bestest smile you have got...you are WORTH seeing a smiling face. Dress in something that makes you feel GOOD. DANG! You look GOOD!

Now, your very favourite tea or coffee, or not...a breakfast snack that makes you feel special...use those jellies or jams you made in summer, or that folks gave you with love.

Now, go outside. Stand there, and inhale...and exhale.

Now...yell at the *($&)#* pups who are looking for cat sh*t under the porch or chasing the (#)&# cats who are after YOUR birdies, and freeze your bare toesies half off.

Get back in the house and look out the windows at the fog enveloping your house and land, or the snow falling on it, or the bluidy rain that won't quit...but interject the thought of the smell of BACON frying, and think, for one minute, of the folks in Somalia who get to swallow some sand for brekkie.

At this point, like me, you can go back to bed, and either sleep, or read a LOUSY book for awhile, watch LOUSIER tv news...or get up and do SOMETHING...when was the last time you made potato, or Leek and potato soup?

I have been living on soup for days. It's good...my old fleece jacket FITS nicely...there is a boon!

Buck up, my friends, buck up! SEE what is around you, recognize the GIFT.

This thread has been so very very helpful to me, in ways you might not even imagine.I was slightly hurt by orchidguy's comment that depression is a mental illness. I never think of S.A.D. as an MI....just a darned nuisance 'condition' that happens every fall, and lasts until summer sun....sort of just a 'sun deprivation' thing. Like plants....if you put them in the dark for 5 months, how would they fare? or worse: put them in the dark for months, but bring them out for a few hours a week, just to keep them barely alive. That's what SAD feels like to me: sun deprivation.

So I spent much of the evening trying to compose an answer in defense of calling depression a MI.....and some of the night-time too. This morning, I awoke with an entirely new perspective!

I remember that my dear brother, who has petit mal epilepsy, spent many years of his early 20's denying that he had epilepsy, refusing the pills offered by docs. So his symptoms were interfering with his lifestyle: blackouts, stumbling around like a drunk; being thought 'crazy' by some people.Until he accepted his diagnosis, and got on meds for it, he was not functioning well, losing job after job.I convinced him to come see my doc. After one visit, my doc wanted to put him into a psychiatric ward, for observaton. He asked me to sign papers which would allow him to do so immediately, with police escort. I refused, saying: my brother has epilepsy, he's not insane. The doc was startled: hadn't known about epilepsy, even when my bro had a seizure right there in his office. (petit mal seizures can look like bouts of insanity. My bro gets 'warning signals' that one is coming on, and he tries, unsuccesfully, to prevent it by pounding with his fist on something nearby, and uttering words which to him sound like the mantra which will cure him, and to others sound like gibberish.)

So this morning, I decided that maybe I'm doing the same thing, in fighting taking anti-dep meds, and insisting that I'm going to fight my way out of this with everything I've got in my arsenal. I've been doing this for 20 years now and it's exhausting. I don't really do as much with my life as I'd like to, and I do avoid social situations a LOT.

I've decided to go with the new meds and relax a bit, let myself catch up on things I haven't done for a long time, and to play.

Thanks for this thread!....and thanks to Dan for catching me up short.

I think orchidguy was talking about depression in general, which IS considered a mental illness. Maybe I have general depression....and am just calling it SAD. I dunno about anybody else, I only talk about my own experiences. Didn't mean to offend.

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), also known as winter depression or winter blues, is a mood disorder in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year experience depressive symptoms in the winter or, less frequently, in the summer,[1] repeatedly, year after year. The US National Library of Medicine notes that "some people experience a serious mood change when the seasons change. They may sleep too much, have little energy, and crave sweets and starchy foods. They may also feel depressed. Though symptoms can be severe, they usually clear up."[2] The condition in the summer is often referred to as Reverse Seasonal Affective Disorder, and can also include heightened anxiety.[3]

There are many different treatments for classic (winter-based) seasonal affective disorder, including light therapies with bright lights, anti-depression medication, ionized-air administration,[4] cognitive-behavioral therapy, and carefully timed supplementation of the hormone melatonin.

sorry BF if we offended you but SAD is a mental illness. you know that isn't a dirty word. before you can fix it you have to accept you have it.Trailblaze again I salute you for accepting and speaking out.my brother also is an epileptic and I work with many at the payin job. you speak of your brothers 'aura' and his trying to talk himself out of a seizure. it may seem very strange for an onlooker unfamiliar with this illness but I have seen it work not all the time but sometimes they CAN talk themselves out of it.hugs and plenty of sunshine sent your way to all who get 'the blues'

""Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain." Smitty BBS

I've been reading this and not commenting but it's very interesting. Several members of my family have MI's, and some suffer from SAD but not to the extent that medications are required. I know I get the winter blues and manage just fine until about February when it gets to it's worst but even then it's not too bad and I can cope.TB - Thanks for telling us about your brother, at the moment we are struggling with a family friend who is mentally ill and in denial. We are struggling to get her to stay on her meds and accept that she needs a great deal of help. This is a young adult who has no family support and the burden has fallen on my son and by default hubby and I. I hold out hope that she comes out of denial but I'm realistic enough to know that this may not happen for quite awhile.

Thanks to all of you for sharing.

LynAB, Zone 3A----------------------------------“Those who say it can't be done are usually interrupted by others doing it.” ` James Arthur Baldwin"

One thing that does help is take a 10 min walk. It helps perk the mood up, same with music.

when I spent so many years inside in the wheelchair in all seasons, I feared lack of vitamin D which I found I was.

So I used to sit on the deck even in winter 10 min a day most days. it certainly helped a lot

Just the fresh air and I hate going out when it i cold, But I do if my day plans don't include going out side for errands etc. I make myself do it.

Once I got better and learned to walk I slacked off from outside. Stupid thing to do. MY fear now is falling

I will do it this winter, tho, it is good for us even just it on the deck 10 min

TB

I don't consider mental illness to be anything to be ashamed of or to hid. It is an illness just as any other and it is dealt with, with care and proper meds and understanding people just as any other illness.

I have always thought it was or can be many times and imbalance of hormones etc

I have a good friend just diagnosed with bi polar

I don't quite undertand it so I go with her to her councelling sessions and I signed up on line . It is called, Understanding depression and bi polar desease. it is an excllent site

it helps me help her. I have a lot more patience by doing this with her. Now I just need to convince her hubby and family to do the same

Cheers Butterfly

Having a place to go - is a home. Having someone to love - is a family. Having both - is a blessing."--Donna Hedges